An Apology
by Deaf Angel
Summary: Even after everything that had happened, he still felt the need to apologize. After all, he had almost killed her. Twice. Oneshot.


"Hold that door!" Maria Hill dutifully held the elevator door for whoever had asked her too, even though she was already late for a meeting with the director, but when she saw who it was; she began to wish she hadn't. Clint Barton stepped into the elevator, and pushed the button to go to the ground floor. Great. They were getting off at the same stop.

They stood in an awkward silence as the doors slid closed, Clint on one side of the elevator, Maria on the other. Maria couldn't help but glance over at him every other second. It was the first time she had been alone with him since... since the attack. Since Loki took control. Not that she had been alone with him allot _before_ the attack, but still. After the attack, everyone had been a little wary of Clint Barton. Pretty much everyone kept their distance now, except Natasha. Maria shuddered, remembering those unnatural blue eyes.

He kept opening his mouth like he had something to say, then closing it like he thought better of it. Eventually, he actually said something. "Agent Hill-" he started, then stopped. For whatever reason, Clint felt the need to apologize to her. He couldn't really remember all of what he did while he was Loki's minion, but he did remember flashes. He remembered cutting Maria off in the parking garage, stranding her down there. She could have easily been killed, crushed by falling debris. He remembered rolling a grenade her way, and if she hadn't noticed it, she would probably be dead.

Clint hadn't told any of this to Natasha. She would have told him to drop it. She would have told him that it wasn't his fault, it was Loki, she would have given him the whole speech. Fury wasn't exactly the confiding type, Clint didn't really trust the team that much just yet, and Phil… Phil was currently and forever unavailable. Clint knew what Phil would say. He would say the same thing as Natasha, 'it wasn't your fault, you didn't know what you were doing, there is no reason for you to apologize,' ect.  
>But this was something Clint felt he needed to do. So, now that he knew he had her attention, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth again. "Agent Hill, I'd just like to apologize," he said quickly, turning to her. Maria blinked, a little shocked. This was the first time she had ever heard Clint Barton apologize to someone who wasn't Fury, Coulson, or Romanoff, and it was the first time that she felt he actually *meant it*. "For what?" she asked, trying to think of something he did that would require an apology.<p>

"For nearly killing you. Twice," was his reply. Maria blinked again, shocked more still. But… that hadn't been him. It had been his body, sure, but Loki had been the one controlling him. She told the other agent as much. Barton ran his fingers through his hair. "I know, I just..." he trailed off, then started again after a moment. "I just needed to say that." Maria nodded, like she understood. She felt like she did, a little. Sometimes, you just had to do things, even if it made no sense to other people. This must be one of those times for Barton.

So, having gotten over her shock, she nodded curtly and informed Clint not to let it happen again. Clint smiled for a split second before hiding it and nodding himself, assuring Maria that it would never happen again, as long as he could help it. The elevator chimed as the doors opened and Maria stepped out, fully prepared to walk away and pretend this never happened, but Clint stopped her. "Thank you, Agent Hill," he called after her. Maria turned and smiled at him. "It's Maria," she said with a smile. Barton smiled as well, saying "Well, then you have to call me Clint."

"Alright," Maria nodded, then turned and walked down the hall to her left. Fury was not going to be happy that she was late, but Maria thought her excuse was valid, even though Fury might not think so.  
>*LineBreak!*<br>AN: Well, I actually wrote most of this a while ago, and only just now came up with what I thought was a suitable ending. I hope you all enjoyed this, thank you for reading! Don't forget to review!  
>—Beth S.<br>P.S. Yes, I know, my initials are B.S. I have no idea what my parents were thinking.


End file.
